Wow, I can't believe it, but I'm not pregnant anymore! Our little boy (surprise! all recent thoughts had predicted girl) was supposed to arrive around Valentine's Day but thought that Christmas Eve sounded like a much cooler holiday.

I had been working ridiculous hours at my job (14 hours a day, 7 days a week) and was feeling pretty good despite it. (Job woes are a really long story--they threatened to fire me at 31 weeks for bullsh!t reasons so I vowed to tough it out until first week of Jan, talk about change in plans on that one). Anyway, despite the long hours I thought I was doing ok, just a little crampines and some discharge that I now think might have been gradual loss of my mucous plug.

I went in for a routine appointment on Wed, and the midwife found a few things that worried her. The ongoing cramps/discharge, slightly elevated blood pressure, and then an internal exam that showed a .5 cm cervix that had been measured at 3 cm only 2 weeks before (at an ultrasound). So off we went to the hospital. I started bleeding as well, but when they hooked me up to the monitors the baby was happy and they didn't see any contractions.

I was monitored for a couple of hours, had another internal exam where things didn't seem to have progressed, so they admitted me for monitoring and it started to look like I would be on bed rest for a couple of days to calm things down. Fast forward to 7 hours later, when I still have had no contractions showing up on the monitor (just some general crampiness getting a little bit worse, but nothing more frequent than 9-13 minutes apart), the resident checks me again and I'm 9 centimeters dialated! Since they knew baby was breech and early, they literally ran me down the hall to the OR, cutting in front of another lady waiting for her c-section. It went super fast, but I felt safe and well-taken care of (my midwife was there in 11 minutes flat).

DH heard the baby squawk when he was pulled out, he started breathing on his own in a minute or two and has been doing well ever since. Weighed in at 2025 grams (4 pounds 8 ounces) and is strong and healthy. No name yet, but will update soon! I'm pumping and just got my first little drops of colostrum, so we're heading to the NICU to feed baby. Will update again soon!

Moral of the story, don't work 14 hour days 7 days a week at 32 weeks pregnant, even if you think you can!

--Emily

Mama to DS1 (born at 32.5 weeks in Dec 2009) and DS2 and DS3 (born at 23 weeks in Oct 2013).

Wow, I can't believe it, but I'm not pregnant anymore! Our little boy (surprise! all recent thoughts had predicted girl) was supposed to arrive around Valentine's Day but thought that Christmas Eve sounded like a much cooler holiday.

I had been working ridiculous hours at my job (14 hours a day, 7 days a week) and was feeling pretty good despite it. (Job woes are a really long story--they threatened to fire me at 31 weeks for bullsh!t reasons so I vowed to tough it out until first week of Jan, talk about change in plans on that one). Anyway, despite the long hours I thought I was doing ok, just a little crampines and some discharge that I now think might have been gradual loss of my mucous plug.

I went in for a routine appointment on Wed, and the midwife found a few things that worried her. The ongoing cramps/discharge, slightly elevated blood pressure, and then an internal exam that showed a .5 cm cervix that had been measured at 3 cm only 2 weeks before (at an ultrasound). So off we went to the hospital. I started bleeding as well, but when they hooked me up to the monitors the baby was happy and they didn't see any contractions.

I was monitored for a couple of hours, had another internal exam where things didn't seem to have progressed, so they admitted me for monitoring and it started to look like I would be on bed rest for a couple of days to calm things down. Fast forward to 7 hours later, when I still have had no contractions showing up on the monitor (just some general crampiness getting a little bit worse, but nothing more frequent than 9-13 minutes apart), the resident checks me again and I'm 9 centimeters dialated! Since they knew baby was breech and early, they literally ran me down the hall to the OR, cutting in front of another lady waiting for her c-section. It went super fast, but I felt safe and well-taken care of (my midwife was there in 11 minutes flat).

DH heard the baby squawk when he was pulled out, he started breathing on his own in a minute or two and has been doing well ever since. Weighed in at 2025 grams (4 pounds 8 ounces) and is strong and healthy. No name yet, but will update soon! I'm pumping and just got my first little drops of colostrum, so we're heading to the NICU to feed baby. Will update again soon!

Moral of the story, don't work 14 hour days 7 days a week at 32 weeks pregnant, even if you think you can!
--Emily

Please don't beat yourself up.. there could be oodles of reasons for an early delivery sweetie. Maybe your sweet baby just wanted to surprise you for christmas Congrats hun and be sure and get some rest. My dd was born early also.. due to pre-e. Everything will be wonderful. Enjoy and Enjoy!!! I'm so happy for you, your family and your precious baby <3 Lots of love, Kim

Mommy to my amazing 6 yr old dd, we , and 27 weeks and have been sick the whole time so far, grrrrr!!!!!!!

Congratulations! And I reiterate what others have said... Don't blame yourself. Think of it this way: there are plenty of moms of many kids (myself included) who have to work long, long hours on their feet taking care of little ones and a house, picking kids up and down, and doing the rigors of physical labor with a family... and still go overdue. I think there may have been more going on with your situation, stuff you may never know.

But count your blessings that he was so healthy and big, and he surely won't be in NICU for long!

thanks to everyone for the support, it means a lot to me! I know I wasn't on this forum very much lately (due to my crazy job) but I had a feeling that posting my story here would help, so thank you very much! you're all right, and I'm not beating myself up over anything (well, trying not to).

I'm thinking about it this way: the facts of the situation are what they are, he was born early, he's in the NICU, etc. But the *story* of the situation is up to me--and I can tell the story that he was just too feisty and strong to wait it out until Valentine's day, that he's getting fantastic care in the NICU and that we are just thrilled to have met him early!

Plus, he got fantastic love and support from me for the 32 week and 5 days that I got to grow him by myself, which outweighs any end-of-the-pregnancy craziness in my mind.

Oh, and he has a name: Anders. We love it. We're still calling him by the nickname we used when he was in utero a bit (it just seems to fit) but the nurses all call him Anders and it's perfect for him.

I'll try to post some photos later.

Mama to DS1 (born at 32.5 weeks in Dec 2009) and DS2 and DS3 (born at 23 weeks in Oct 2013).